Eternal Flame
by Ms Ameile Gray
Summary: Close your eyes, give me your hand, darling. Do you feel my heart beating? Do you understand? Do you feel the same? Am I only Dreaming? Is this burning an eternal flame? These thoughts had been floating around in his head awhile.
1. The Well

**Summary: **_Close your eyes, give me your hand, darling. Do you feel my heart beating? Do you understand? Do you feel the same? Am I only Dreaming? Is this burning an eternal flame? _These thoughts had been floating around in his head awhile. It stirred uneasiness in him. How could this one girl cause so much… confusion in him? He was even confused on what he was so confused about! Arg. This Sesshomaru did _not_ like being confused. Now, to rid himself of the problem… could he really do that? What a bother.

**Disclaimers: **_I, __NumberXIV__, own NOTHING in this story, except the ideas. Characters are © to Rumiko Takahashi. And I don't give a damn that InuYasha may had been her mid-life crisis. I still find it awesome. __Rawr_

**Rating: **_Mature, for later instances, violence and language. __Darned InuYasha._

**Other Info: **_for the first TWO years of a dog's life, they age 10 years (ratio, 10:1, __10__ human years to every dog year), after those two years, the ratio goes down to 4:1. So, in a technical sense, __Sessh's__ "age"__ is 96. BUT, s__ince he keeps blabbering about being over 200 years__ old,__ I'm guessing Rumiko went with the 10:1 ratio. _(XD) _So__, for this story, he'__s 210; b__eing__ that he's__ 21 in "human appearance".__ (Btw, this is two years after any current happenings in the __manga__. So yes… __Sesshomaru's__ got both of his arms in the "present". __And the __Bakusaiga__ -__laughs__ at the name- BAKASAIGA!_

**Eternal Flame**  
_Chapter __One_  
The Well

_Summer of 2004/1504  
June 19__th  
Demon Calendar: Full Moon 6, Sun Up 19, Year 1,504_

_Typical_. It was all so very typical. Down to InuYasha's yelling, to their protests Sango, Miroku and Shippo gave him. But in the end, she was going to _need_ to go home. She was going to _have_ to go home. She needed to stock up on, god forbid it, ramen. She knew mentioning the need of the food item will stop the yelling, but InuYasha would still be mad because this would put them farther off track from Naraku than they need to be. But to fight Naraku, they would need to be _healthy_ and that required _food_. Sure, game and all that was absolutely _wonderful_, but seriously now. She sighed again, as she snuck off. Miroku and Sango having InuYasha distracted for the moment as she made her way into the forest that held the well.

She made it about halfway there before she sensed… her. Her brows furrowed. _Why is she here, again?_ She walked the stretch of length that led into the clearing and stopped. She, being Kikyo, was standing next to the well, looking at it curiously, seemingly not noticing Kagome's arrival. She stayed silent for a few more minutes, and just as she was about to speak, Kikyo's voice met her ears.

"Girl, how does this well work?"

Kagome blinked, she was getting _really_ tired of people rudely addressing her as 'girl', or 'wench' or 'human'. Kagome sighed, "I do not know."

"Lies."

"I know what it _does_ but not _how_ it does it." Kagome rephrased.

Kikyo looked up at her, her face emotionless. "I will take InuYasha to hell with me."

Kagome's eyes narrowed, but she said nothing. Kikyo had turned back to the well again, and then turned away, vanishing into the forest. Kagome raised an eyebrow. That was it? She was up to something, that clay pot, but she wasn't anywhere near by now. Kagome figured it was safe, and she made her way to the well. It sprang to life in front of her and she grinned. _Good, no tampering done._ She jumped.

Kikyo reappeared only minutes later, seeing the well activate, and the girl jump down. She made her way over to it. "Now I will seal you into that world forever! I don't care about the Jewel anymore, or the fate of this land, just stay where you belong, copy!" And Kikyo placed her hands upon the wooded lip of the well, her dark powers flowing out of her hands and into the wood of the well. The blue magic within swirled and died, and, thinking that the well was dead now, she turned with a grin on her face. _I will have InuYasha!_

_-----_

_"Present Day" Tokyo_

"MAMA! I'M HOME!" called Kagome as she made her way into the house, slipping her shoes off at the door.

Higurashi-san appeared in the threshold and smiled. "Welcome home Kagome! Did you enjoy your travels?"

"Not as much as I'd like." Kagome groaned. "I've come to resupply. I'll be going back in the morning."

"Ah. All right then, shall we go shopping?" Kagome's mother grinned at the prospective outing.

"Yes mama, after a bath, however." Kagome said, walking up to her mother and giving the woman a hug before handing the Yellow backpack to her.

"Of course dear," Higurashi-san watched her daughter disappear up the stairs, and soon the sound of water filled the house.

--

Half an hour later, Kagome was dressed and heading down stairs, towel around her neck while she waited for her hair to fully dry. Souta came in about this time. "Kags! You're home!"

"I am! And what have I told you about calling me that?" She grinned at her brother.

"Sorry sis," Souta said sheepishly. "Stocking up again?"

"Yep. InuYasha sure loves his ramen." Kagome resisted rolling her eyes at the thought.

"Speaking of, did he come with you?" Souta seemed to look around excitedly.

"Not this time Souta, sorry." She said.

"Awww. I wanted to beat him at video games again." Souta said, vanishing up stairs.

Kagome laughed just as her mother came down the stairs. "Ready?"

"Ready!" Kagome pulled the towel from her shoulders, draped it over the banister of the stairs, and followed her mother out of the house.

----

_500 Years in the Past_

"INUYASHA! GIVE ME MY CRAYONS BACK!" Shippo cried, fists flailing as InuYasha held him away by his tail.

"Nah, I don't think I will. What do you need 'em for anyways, runt?" InuYasha gave Shippo a look.

"Kagome gave them to me, give them back!" Shippo flailed again.

"Aren't you getting too big for these childish toys?" InuYasha said, sneering.

"SANGO!" cried Shippo.

She appeared in the door way of the hut they were sitting in, eyes glaring at InuYasha. "Drop him, now." InuYasha, grumbling out obscenities, complied and dropped Shippo to the wooden floor with a dull thump. Sango gave him another stare and InuYasha held the box of crayons to Shippo, who grabbed them and dashed away. Going back to what he was doing, coloring. InuYasha pushed himself to his feet, crossing his arms over his chest and walked out of the hut, passing Sango. "Don't you dare go after her. She'll be back in the morning." He only replied with a grunt and shot off in the opposite direction. Sango sighed, running her hand through her hair.

Miroku took this moment to come up and run his hand over her backend.

WHACK!

"Sango, darling, you know it's the hand! I can't control it!" Miroku said, grinning sheepishly.

"Yeah, sure Miroku. Whatever." She rolled her eyes at the monk, and went to sit against a wall.

"What's bothering you?" Miroku asked, taking a seat against the wall adjacent to hers.

"Who else?"  
"Ah."

She sighed again, rubbing her eyes with her hands. "I swear, it's like… a volcano waiting to erupt."

"The relationship between Kagome and InuYasha? I do agree." Miroku nodded.

"I can't watch her fall in love with him, when I know that every time she's gone, he goes running to that dead pot!" Sango groaned.

"I know, my dear, I know." Miroku said.

"And what have I told you about calling me that." She gave him a deadly look.

"My apologies."

"Sure. Whatever, Miroku."

He merely chuckled.

----

_"Present Day" Tokyo_

"Oof!" Kagome grunted, setting her signature yellow backpack down. It was _stuffed_ this time, and she meant _really stuffed_. 'Probably enough ramen to last for three years!' she thought, looking to the bag again. 'But not with InuYasha…' She rolled her eyes as she moved to pick up the bag again. 'Gosh this thing is heavy!' She hoisted it onto her shoulder, and jumped…

The magic swelled and spun around her, and she dropped to the floor of the well. _Ah, good __old__ Fe__ud__al Japan._ She took in the fresh air and sighed. "INUYASHA! I'M BACK!" She exclaimed, and blinked. She figured he'd be waiting at the top, but no one shouted down obscenities, or told her she was late. _Fine, I'll do it myself! _She hoisted the bag onto her shoulder again, and began to climb the vines.

"OW!"

She exclaimed for the thirtieth time, as she hit the bottom of the well. _Okay, maybe not so easy…_

"Is there someone down there?" called someone from the top.

_Thank god!_ She thought, happily, "yes, there is! Could you please help me?"

And suddenly, she wasn't the only one in the bottom of the well. Staring at the person who was about to save her, she blinked, "Sess-Sesshomaru!"

He blinked back, "you know me? I've never seen you before."

She blinked, "I travel with your half-brother, InuYasha! I'm Kagome, the miko!"

He rose a delicately shaped eyebrow, "I know no mikos by the name of 'Kagome'. And you speak of my half-brother. How is it that you know him as well?"

She blinked at him. "Just… get me out of here for now, I'll explain." _As much as I can, at least…_

Sesshomaru merely nodded, taking up the gigantic yellow backpack, and wrapping his arms around her, and jumped, bringing them out of the well, and they landed on the forest floor.

She then noticed something peculiar, he only had one sword. "You don't have Tokijin? Where's Rin and Jaken?"

He gave her an 'are you crazy' look. "I know no-one of the name of 'Rin' either. Again, I ask, how do you know InuYasha?"

"I… travel with him." She raised her eyebrow in confusion.

"I do not think he is able to accomplish that, he is now stuck to a tree, as you can see." Sesshomaru motioned over to the Goshinboku that sat not twenty feet away.

Kagome's eyes widened. There he was, stuck to the tree! Again! _That means…_

She looked to Sesshomaru, who was short two swords. And then back to InuYasha, who was sleeping, with an arrow in his chest. Then something hot burned against her neck. She pulled out the tiny bottle of Shikon shards. They were shining a violent pink. _Ok, there's definitely something wrong here. _"Can you tell me what year it is?"

"Excuse me?" he snorted.

"What year is it?" She looked to Sesshomaru, who was armor less, and looking much younger.

"I believe, for you humans, it is the year fourteen-fifty-four," he said.

Her eyes widened.

"I WENT FIFTY YEARS FARTHER THAN I SHOULD HAVE?!"


	2. Tale before the Tale

**AN**_Ok…. Yes… One: HERE'S THE UPDATE. Two: I know the whole 'sealing/time mix-up' thing has been done before; but it's Kikyo for pete's sake. _m(uu;)m_ I've seen it several times. Three: Don't worry. My story is going to be much more… well. Heh, you'll just have to read to find out, huh? Normally, Kagome would go back another 100-200 years. I only put her to the time that InuYasha was sealed to the tree. That's sure to 'cause something interesting to happen, yes?_

**Last Time**

_She looked to Sesshomaru, who was short two swords. And then back to InuYasha, who was sleeping, with an arrow in his chest. Then something hot burned against her neck. She pulled out the tiny bottle of Shikon shards. They were shining a violent pink. Ok, there's definitely something wrong here. "Can you tell me what year it is?"_

"_Excuse me?" he snorted._

"_What year is it?" She looked to Sesshomaru, who was armor less, and looking much younger._

"_I believe, for you humans, it is the year fourteen-fifty-four," he said._

_Her eyes widened._

"_I WENT FIFTY YEARS FARTHER THAN I SHOULD HAVE!"_

_Chapter Two_

Tale before the Tale

He stared at her, blinked once, then twice and a delicately shaped brow rose and vanished into his silvery bangs. The scene was all highly amusing as the strange girl ranted and raved. He waited patiently for her to cease her ramblings, arms crossing over his chest and he fought the urge to laugh. It had been a _very_ long time since he wanted to genuinely laugh and as far as Kagome knew, it was still a very long time; other than laughing in the face of death – which is usually just a deadly smirk and a snort, not a laugh at. 

Kagome caught sight of him now, remembering where she was and who her company was. She seemed to be startled, when she found him, standing there, half-smirking, amusement in his eyes. She blinked again, "are you laughing at me?"

_That_ almost let the giggle escape. "Not at all, Miko."

She glared at him, "you know. My name is Ka-go-me, got it? Not Miko. Not Wench. Not Bitch. Not whore. Not Human. Got it memorized?"

In fact he had. Kagome? Wasn't that a name used in that children's game? The song poured itself into his memory, before he had the chance to shake it away.

_Kagome, Kagome, the bird in the cage,  
when will you come out?  
In the evening of the dawn,  
the crane and turtle slipped.  
Who stands right behind you now?_

How odd for a girl her age be named after such a song. But now the name was stuck in his head – as well as the song – and he called out to her. "Kagome, where is your village?"

Her first instinct: to say, 'on the other side of the well,' but he would just cock an eyebrow at her, as if asking: 'really now?' She thought frantically for a moment, "It's near here." _I wonder what he'll say to that._

"Lady Kikyo's village?" He questioned, turning his head in that direction, sniffing. "I see."

"What?" She said, shifting her weight to her other foot. Which was a bad idea, as she had forgotten it was sprained. She hissed in pain and crumbled to the ground. Sesshomaru's head snap snapped towards her, and he almost seemed worried. _Almost_. He caught himself before saying anything he would regret; any humanly emotion that leaked out from him now would surely be his down fall. Kagome pondered a minute. He so… well, he's much gentler here than in the time I'm in. I wonder what changed. After the pain subsided, she stood.

"You need medical attention," he said, matter-of-factly.

Kagome raised an eyebrow, _no shit Sherlock._

Sesshomaru seemed to come to some sort of decision within his internal battle at this point. "You will accompany me to my castle; you shall get the treatment you need there."

"Why not at the village?" she tilted her head, surprising herself that she wasn't arguing about the gentle order.

"The village miko there just recently died, and the miko-in-training is much too young," he said, walking forward.

_Good point_. Thought Kagome as she watched Sesshomaru step forward and curious to what he would do, she stood still. He swept her up into his arms, and took off into the air. She eeped at the sudden contact and held onto his haori for dear life, burying her face into it. _Gods! He's much faster than InuYasha!_

He smirked inwardly when she pressed herself against his armor-less chest. However, this was also the first time he was able to take in her scent. A light artificial fragrance of jasmine and lavender… with a deep down smell of cinnamon and… His brows furrowed a moment, _a smell like sunshine on waterfalls? Well that must be her miko powers._ He allowed himself a deep chuckle, which seemed to cause Kagome to jump.

"Whoa! What was that? Was that a laugh?" She raised an eyebrow at him, and he returned to expression. "Nevermind."

_Good idea_. Thought Sesshomaru, as he continued to jump from tree to tree, gliding in between some, before having to touch town lightly on a top branch to accelerate again. _This miko is going to cause an up roar at home… but she is obviously confused…. And hurt._

'_Why do I care so much, anyways?'_

_Because she's the first thing that didn't run in fright from you?_

'_I am Sesshomaru, son of Inu no Tashio. I am supposed to be feared.'_

_Doesn't mean you have to like being feared._

…

_I made a point didn't I?_

…

His inner voice laughed at him. _Don't screw this up, Fluff. _And it was gone.

_What? Don't screw this up? What in the name of Midoriko did that mean!_ Sesshomaru inwardly sighed, as he felt Kagome settle. She had fallen asleep in his arms.

Out of character aside, his expression took upon that cold hard look, as soon as he neared the castle. The guards, however, were not fooled. "Milord?"

He gave the one his left a 'what' look.

"Why is there a woman – a human woman, a Miko, no less – in your arms?" The ears upon the males head twitched, as did his tail, grey eyes dancing in curiosity.

"Do you question your lord, Aki?" he glared.

"No, not at all! I was just curious." Aki said, jumping back slightly.

Sesshomaru gave an indifferent stare, "she has been wounded." And then turning, he took to walked towards the door way of his castle. Stepping inside, he bellowed, "SA-KU-RA!"

His voice shook the walls of the ancient stone castle, and there was a sudden pitter-patter of a woman dashing down the stairs two at a time, red hair flowing with the movement, a red furred fox tail swishing nervously. She came to a half, bowing, "Milord, you are back early!" She stood straight, green eyes meeting with gold.

"Indeed. Fetch the healer and ready one of the guest bedrooms on my wing," he said.

Sakura bowed, "hai, milord. At once, milord." She then took to dashing back up the stairs, calling out, "HATORI!"

Sesshomaru then looked back down to the unconscious girl in his arms, and he sighed. _Oh, what a day…_

He was rubbing his temples. The questions the maids had asked when they were done preparing her room was unbearable. He had a hard time resisting taking his claws to their throats. But that would be a waste of good servants. So this Sesshomaru kept his cool… mostly. Jaken squawked for over an hour. Hatori had shown, tching as he came across the sprained ankle. "Gee, Lord Sesshomaru, how could you let such a pretty girl get hurt?"

Sesshomaru gave him his I-am-not-amused look, with a dash of a raised eyebrow. "She was already in this condition when I got to her."

"Speaking of that, where did you find her?" Hatori was grinning, eyeing the Kagome.

Sesshomaru, somewhere deep down, didn't like that. He growled, "you would kindly not look at her like that please. And she was found at the bottom of the Bone Eaters well."

"In your brother's forest? Intriguing!" Hatori chuckled, wrapping up the sprained ankle. "Well, she should stay off this foot for a few days… and she should be good to go."

Sesshomaru nodded. "You may leave."

Hatori nodded, bowed and left, just as Kagome stirred. "Nngh, Sesshomaru?"

He grunted as a reply.

"Where am I?"

"My home."

To be continued…

**End Notes**: …ah, yeah. Uhm. Hatori. Own the idea, I just totally realized the whole name-and-doctor thing. --; Uhm, yeah, the name probably brings up the same character in your memory too, if you know who I'm talking about, so yeah, don't own him. D: SO ANYWAYS, sorry for the delay… I don't know when the next chapter will be up, though, when my muse is not DEAD, I'll get to ya'll. Seriously. :D Anyways. Enjoy.

Read, review. 


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